President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one salesman that has the capacity to make you consider buying what you never wanted to purchase in the first place. He is that good a marketer!
Since assumption of office on May 29th, 2023 as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has gone on 10 foreign trips. Apart from his two trips to Guinea Bissau and neighbouring Benin Republic, the visits have been about strengthening Nigeria’s foreign diplomacy and convincing investors to invest in the national economy.
From the Paris Financing Pact Summit to the UN General Assembly in the US; the G20 Summit in India; an unscheduled detour to the United Arab Emirates; Saudi-Africa Summit in Riyadh and now the Compact with Africa Conference in Berlin, Germany, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has seized every opportunity to hawk the enormous potentials on offer in Nigeria before serious investors.
The president during his remarks in these marketing outings usually leave his audience convinced about Nigeria’s readiness to do business. It is therefore not surprising that these marketing pitches by Mr. President has began yielding investment fruits, the latest being a gas supply MoU which solidified a gas export partnership between Riverside LNG of Nigeria and Germany’s Johannes Schuetze Energy Import AG.
In the deal, Nigeria commits to supplying 850,000 tons of natural gas annually to Germany, with projections indicating an increase to 1.2 million tons. The initial shipments are scheduled for 2026, according to David Ige of Riverside LNG.
This is big deal for Nigeria, not necessarily in terms of scale but in terms of expanding the gas industry in Nigeria. Riverside LNG is definitely not on the same scale with the Bonny NLNG but it signals a real intent by smaller companies to build modular LNG facilities across the Niger Delta to harness natural gas that would otherwise be flared into a cleaner energy source.
The Riverside liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility is located at Ogbelle in Rivers State, Nigeria, connected to the Ogbelle Gas Plant and the Onne Port in the Oil & Gas Free Zone Area. The initial phase for the Ogbelle location includes two 350TPD liquefaction trains co-located with the gas production and processing facility owned by NDPR Ltd. A planned 300m gas pipeline connects the sites.
For the Onne Port Location of the Riverside LNG project, additional two 700TPD trains will be situated at Onne Port. The company has already leased a 30HA waterfront plot, and the terminal boasts a dedicated berthing facility and substantial storage capacity. Riverside LNG aspires to make the Onne terminal Africa’s first and most liquid LNG trading hub, with a trading capacity of up to 1.5MTPA.
The company achieved financial closure on the project last year with construction commencing in December 2022. The first gas from the Ogbelle facility is expected by October 2024. The capacity will be gradually ramped up as the Onne trains begin production too. By securing the gas supply deal with a German company, with 2026 as expected date of first shipment, Riverside LNG is extra motivated to quickly complete construction of the project.
This is possible because of the commitment at the highest level of government in Nigeria to hasten the gas revolution. President Tinubu right from the onset during his campaigns set his eyes firmly on maximally exploiting Nigeria’s humongous gas potentials to drive economic prosperity for Nigeria.
President Tinubu has identified Germany as key to realising this goal and he has not relented one bit in giving Germany close marking. Germany on its part has recognised Nigeria as an important alternative to Russian gas in its quest to diversify its gas supply sources. This is a mutually beneficial partnership, which is a fruit of President Tinubu’s marketing doggedness. The President was not joking when he declared in a Townhall meeting during the campaigns that he wants to compete with Russia!